‘Sinners’ Review
Ryan Coogler’s foray into horror is bold and layered, as much a tale about the odyssey of the soul as a tale about monsters.
Ryan Coogler’s (Black Panther, Creed) Sinners is an exhilarating paean to the cultural richness of the Mississippi Delta and the Low Country and its hotbed of spiritual stew which includes hoodoo, voodoo, and Yoruba. The characters in the film joyfully affirm its message that music can pierce the veil between the physical and the spiritual worlds. With rousing juke joint rhythms synthing with voodoo and Yoruba ceremonial rhythms, the movie’s dance numbers are the centerpiece of a tale about racism, community, and human connection.
Michael B. Jordan plays the roles of twin brothers Smoke and Stack who return home to the Delta in 1932 after leaving Chicago under shady circumstances. They’ve arrived with a bag full of money to burn and use it to buy a juke joint from someone they suspect could be a Klan member. They start recruiting friends and lovers to participate in the grand opening, including their younger cousin Sammie (Miles Caton) who has got Robert Johnson-like skills with the guitar. Sammie’s father, Pastor Jedidiah (Saul Williams) warns him that if he keeps “dancing with the devil” that he’ll follow him home.
When the party starts, the joint is jumping and certain trysts emerge. Just when the brothers realize they might not break even in earnings, three mysterious white people show up at the door wanting to share their music skills. Everyone suspects something is off about them, including passe blanc Mary (Hailee Steinfeld). She decides to go after them to find out what they’re up to and this turns out to be a fatal journey for her. When she returns, she’s the impetus for chaos, which is ironic since she’s a woman of color trapped in a white woman’s body. She symbolizes temptation for the brothers as well as an outright danger for the Clarksdale community.
The one character that has a handle on the supernatural forces attacking them is Annie (Wunmi Mosaku). She is a quiet force of nature who dabbles in hoodoo and has an enduring love for Smoke. Her end is the most touching. Actor’s actor Delroy Lindo as Delta Slim provides levity in many of the more tense scenes.
Unlike Coogler’s previous family-friendly films, this one is not. Some of the dialogue is as raunchy as blues lingo and the violence is graphic. The cinematic shots of the cotton fields portray a landscape of beauty and pain which is a mirror of the Black residents lives. One theme the film is focused on is freedom, physically and spiritually. Remmick (Jack O’Connell) and his band of the undead offer the Black residents unlimited freedom in the afterlife. Sammie is the only one who achieves it, but at a cost.
Since the story embraces African-based religions and eschews Christianity, there are no repercussions for living a bad life. It’s OK to commit adultery. To rob. To kill. To keep playing the guitar, an instrument that can create magic and menace. It just is what it is because we’re all sinners in some way, at least in the eyes of the storyteller. Smoke makes a decision at the end that is selfish instead of contributing to the greater good and safety of humanity. There is no Van Helsing to save everyone. The greater evil lurks in man’s nature and racism is portrayed as a major boogeyman.
This is Coogler’s fifth collaboration with Jordan and they are a winning team. Coogler’s foray into horror is bold and layered, as much a tale about the odyssey of the soul as a tale about monsters. Ludwig Göransson, who did the score for Black Panther, strikes again with a score that captures the heartbeat of ancient traditions and pulsating peril.
Sinners is a Warner Bros. release that hits Theaters nationwide on April 18.
Sonya Alexander started off her career training to be a talent agent. She eventually realized she was meant to be on the creative end and has been writing ever since. As a freelance writer she’s written screenplays, covered film, television, music and video games and done academic writing. She’s also been a script reader for over twenty years. She's a member of the African American Film Critics Association and currently resides in Los Angeles.
